Stocking support



March 31, 1970 c. s. GALLIAN STOCKING SUPPORT iled March 22, 1968DIRECTION 0F STRETCH INVENTOR. CLYDE $.GALLIAN ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,503,078 STOCKING SUPPORT Clyde S. Gallian, 325 11th Ave.,Huntington, W. Va. 25701 Filed Mar. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 715,329 Int. Cl.A41f 9/00, 11/00 US. Cl. 2311 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREStocking supports are cut from a rolled-up strip of indeterminate lengththat is comprised of three tapes secured together side-by-side. Thecentral tape has oneway stretch in a direction perpendicular to itslength. The outer two or marginal tapes are inelastic and havepressuresensitive adhesive on the side opposite the elastic tape. Inuse, a length from the roll is wrapped around the wearers leg with theadhesive on the inner side and cut to length; and one edge strip clingsto the top of the stocking while the other edge strip clings to the leg.The cut-to-length feature eliminates the need for stretch lengthwise ofthe strip.

The present invention relates to stocking supports, more particularly ofthe garter type for ladies hose.

It is an object of this invention to provide a stocking support thatwill be of the proper size but will not constrict the leg of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a Stocking supportthat prevents no telltale contour, even beneath the tightest garment.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of astocking support that is inexpensive enough to be discarded when soiled.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of astocking support that has no connection to any other garment.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a Stockingsupport that will not rub, chafe or irritate the skin of the wearer andwill not damage the stocking.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stockingsupport which will be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture,easy to put on and take oif, comfortable to wear, and rugged and durablein use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a stocking support according to thepresent invention, in use on the leg of a wearer;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stocking support according to thepresent invention, in the form of a roll of indeterminate length, fromwhich shorter lengths are cut at the time of use;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the support of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the support of the presentinvention, from the side which is the outer side in use; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but from the side which is the underside in use.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown astocking support according to the present invention, in the form of astrip 1 of indeterminate length. In its preferred initial form, strip 1is rolled up in the form of a roll 3, which can be either helical asshown, or elongated, and which can be rolled on a solid core or spool(not shown) which can have any desired shape. Thus, the rolls 3 of thepresent invention are characterized by being wound in a plurality ofrepetitive layers, without restriction as to the particular shape of theloops thus formed.

In the roll 3, the strip 1 thus has a free inner end 5 at the interiorof the roll, and a free outer end 7 on the exterior of the roll. It isparticularly to be noted that the present invention differs fromprevious garters in the form of endless bands, in that the ends 5 and 7of the strip before use are free and are spaced from each other.

The present invention is also characterized in that the strip 1 is of alength much greater than the circumference of a leg; preferably manytimes the circumference of a leg. This is because the strip is cut tolength and used as needed, the rest of the roll being reserved forfuture uses.

The strip 1 is itself comprised of three principal portions: at centraltape 9 and two parallel edge tapes 11 and 13, the tapes 11 and 13 beingsecured to the edges of the central tape 9 and spaced apart from eachother by central tape 9. On their sides opposite tape 9, the tapes 11and 13 each have a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive 15. The tapes 11and 13 may be and preferably are inextensible in the direction of bothof their principal dimensions, that is, both along their length andacross their width. They can be woven tapes or plastic tapes or any ofthe other types of tape that are used as a flexible but inextensiblebacking for a pressure-sensitive adhesive. The adhesive 15, in turn, canbe any of the common pressure-sensitive adhesives that are applied tocellophane tape or masking tape or surgical bandages.

The tapes 9, 11 and 13 are assembled relative to each other as best seenin FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Thus, at each longitudinal edge of the central tape9, there is a region of overlap .17 with the subjacent edge tape 11 or13. In this area of overlap, the tape 9 is secured to the tapes 11 and13, as by adhesive or sewing or the like.

A very important feature of the present invention is that the entirelength of central tape 9 has one-way stretch in a direction transverseto its length, that is, in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 4.Thus, by pulling the tapes 11 and 13 laterally away from each other, thecentral tape 9 can be stretched in the direction of pull.

The lateral one-way stretch of the tape 9 can be achieved by the mannerof weaving, as by any of the common one-way stretch weaves to whichparticularly synthetic fibers are susceptible; but it is preferred toachieve one-Way stretch by means of the incorporation of transverselydisposed elastic threads in tape 9, according to any of the well-knownprior art methods for this purpose. In this latter way, by the inclusionof elastomeric threads in the Weave of tape 9, a stronger elastic actioncan be obtained and the degree of the elasticity can be nicelyregulated.

The manner of use and mode of application of the stocking support of thepresent invention can perhaps best be seen in FIG. 1, in which astocking 19' is thus supported on the leg of the wearer. To apply thesupport, the stocking 19 is first smoothed on the wearers leg, with theleg straight so that the upper end of the stocking is as high as it willreach on the wearers leg. Holding the roll 3 in the hand, with the axisof the roll generally parallel to the length of the leg, the free end 7of the strip 1 is then applied to the leg so that the adhesive side ofone of the tapes 11 and 13 is against the top of the stocking and theadhesive side of the other of the tapes 11 and 13 is against the skin ofthe wearer. The free end 7 is then pressed against the leg so that thepressure-sensitive adhesive 15 of each of the tapes 11 and 13 adheres toits subjacent support, and the roll 3 is then pulled in a direction tounwind it and a length of strip 1 is thus wrapped about the leg, withthe upper of the strips 11 and 13 entirely in contact withand-adhesively clinging to the skin of the wearer, and the other of thestrips 11 and 13 entirely in contact with and clinging to the outersurface of the top of the stocking.

The strip 1 is thus wound entirely about the leg and cut off with alittle excess, to form a new end 21 which becomes the outer end of theshorter length of strip 1 as applied to the leg. And new end 21 is thenpressed down against the underlying former free end 7 to form a regionof overlap 23 in which strip 1 is two layers thick. In the region ofoverlap 23, the tapes 11 and 13 simply adhere to the outer surface ofthe underlying strip 1.

The resulting support has no elasticity peripherally of the leg. But itneeds none, because it is applied to size, with a tension regulated bythe wearer at the time of application, so that it need not bind the legand need not be any tighter than is comfortable.

At the same time, however, the support has elasticity in the directionof the arrows in FIGS. 1 and 4 so that when the leg bends, the top ofthe stocking can move down along the leg, and return when the leg isstraightened again. In this connection, it is particularly to be notedthat there is no portion of the support, at any place about the support,where there is no substantial oneway stretch in the direction of thelength of the leg. Thus, there is no tendency for the stockings towrinkle or to pull up unevenly, as would be the case if separate elasticstraps held up the tops of the stockings, or as would be the case if thesupport had any portion about its periphery that did not have one-waystretch in the direction of the length of the leg.

The fact that the tapes 11 and 13 are longitudinally inextensibleinsures that they will remain in strongly but removably adhering contactwith both the leg and the top of the stocking. The longitudinalinextensibility of the tapes 11 and 13 is made possible by the uniquefeature of the present invention comprising cutting the support tolength at the time of application.

Of course, it will also be understood that the supports are reusableseveral times, until the pressure-sensitive adhesive is inadequatelyadhesive, simply by peeling off the support and reserving it for reuse.Thus, the present invention is by no means limited to cutting to sizeupon each application of the support. Instead, the present invention ischaracterized by the fact that, both in the roll and as applied to theleg, the support of the present invention has free ends that are notnecessarily secured together nor even adjacent each other.

In view of the foregoing disclosure, therefore, it will be evident thatall the initially recited objects of the present invention have beenachieved.

Although the present invention has ben' described and illustrated inconnection with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood thatmodifications and variations may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of the invention, as those skilled in this art will readilyunderstand.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A stocking support comprising an elongated strip having free ends,the strip having areas of pressuresensitive adhesive along both edges ofthe strip on one side of the strip, the strip having an elastic portionthat extends full length of the strip and that has one-way stretch in adirection transverse to the length of the strip and that is disposedbetween and spaces apart the areas of pressure-sensitive adhesive thatextend along opposite edges of the strip.

2. A stocking support as claimed in claim 1, said strip being comprisedof a central tape and two parallel edge tapes secured to thelongitudinal edges of the central tape and spaced apart by the centraltape, the edge tapes having pressure-sensitive adhesive on one side onlyand having substantially no longitudinal stretch, the central tapecomprising said elastic portion.

3. A stocking support as claimed in claim 2, the central tapeoverlapping both of the edge tapes on the side of the edge tapesopposite the pressure-sensitive adhesive.

4. A stocking support as claimed in claim 1, the strip being arranged ina roll with one end of the strip at the interior of the roll and theother end of the strip on the exterior of the roll.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,351,199 6/1944 Fry 2-240 X2,425,479 8/1947 LeBlanc 2240 X 2,628,928 2/1953 Cadous 2-338 X2,697,230 12/1954 Rosecrans 2i-3ll X 3,082,135 3/1963 Lane 16l1473,097,364 7/1963 Hess 2232 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,507 9/ 1938 GreatBritain. 1,336,103 7/ 1963 France.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 2-240

